Vivien Leigh is probably best known for her iconic role as Scarlett O’Hara Gone With The Wind.
A dress Vivien Leigh wore for the role has been sold for $137,000 at auction, which turns out to be a seriously healthy profit for the owner who reportedly bought the dress decades ago for a mere $20.
According to reports, the gray two-piece outfit worn by the late actress was about to be tossed out when the owner bought the ensemble.
My how times have changed. No one would dream of throwing out any paraphernalia from any film, or television show these days.
Vivien Leigh’s outfit was sold at an auction in Beverly Hills, California, on Saturday, according to Heritage Auctions.
Scarlett O'Hara dress up for auction
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More than 150 pieces of memorabilia from Gone With The Wind went on the auction block, but the dress worn by Vivien Leigh garnered the most attention and money.
James Tumblin, who used to work at Universal Studios, was the owner of the incredible collection before it was auctioned off piece by piece.
Tumblin said he came across the ensemble worn by Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in the early 1960s when he found it at a costume company.
“I saw this dress on the floor and a docent told me not to bother to pick it up, because they were throwing it away,” he said, according to The Telegraph.
“I asked if he would sell it to me,” he said. “I had noticed there was a printed label saying Selznick International Pictures and ‘Scarlett production dress’ was written in ink.”
Interestingly enough, the dress Vivien Leigh wore in a scene when Scarlett O’Hara encounters Butler when she is attacked in the shanty town, was originally blue, but has faded with age.
